Make sure to go to Universal's Halloween Horror Nights. It's so worth the price of admission.
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Theme Parks & Roller Coasters |OT| Imagineering 101
- Thread starter 7threst
- Start date
Make sure to go to Universal's Halloween Horror Nights. It's so worth the price of admission.
Definitely. Orlando HHN is so much better than Hollywood's. We don't get original icons out here
I'm thinking of going next Dec and I'm hoping it'll be open by then and crowds are kinda light because of the time of the year I want to go.
I went to Disney World Dec 13th - 18th and had a blast. We stayed at Animal Kingdom and Port Orleans for the trip, and I think if I went back I'd just stick to Port Orleans since we enjoyed it much more.
Thursday we went to Animal Kingdom and had fast passes for flight of passage and navi adventure. I knew the navi adventure wasn't very well received but it was much worse than I thought it was gonna be. Without fast pass I was able to go on everest a few times with very short waits (10-30 minutes). We didn't book any dinner reservations but ate at the Yak and Yeti and had some primo ramen and sake
Friday we went to both universal studios parks and not a single wait was longer than 15 minutes. It was supposed to rain but sprinkled maybe twice?
Saturday we went to Hollywood studios and it still wasn't bad. We had fast passes for Tower of Terror and the Rock n Rolla coaster. We went on tower of terror 3 times throughout the day with a 15-20 minute wait, although we did end up waiting 2 hours for the slinky ride but that's only because the entire park seemed to be hanging out in the toy story land.
Sunday we did Epcot and had a fast pass for Soarin. tried to eat and drink something in each different themed area but the best was probably the brioche bun with chocolate ice cream and caramel drizzle put in a sandwich press in France. Epcot got super crowded around 9 PM so we ended up leaving without hitting up a couple of the areas.
Monday we had planned on just hanging out in Disney springs, but we know a couple people that work at Disney so we got into Magic Kingdom for free. We obviously didn't book fast passes and the waits were surprisingly very long for a Monday. We only waited for Thunder Mountain, went on a couple of the kid rides, ate some candied bacon and chicken skewers and then headed to Disney Springs after to Morimoto Asia for the a5 wagyu and peking duck. By far the best meal we had all trip even though all the meals were fantastic.
Even though not having the fast passes for Magic Kingdom on Monday made it nearly impossible to get on anything good we still got into the park for free and the fast pass kicked ass for everything we pre-planned. The only thing I would change is possibly taking a few more days to hang out in Disney Springs.
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Making a road trip down to Cleveland in March and I wish Cedar Point was open to hit up Steel Vengeance again :/
Thursday we went to Animal Kingdom and had fast passes for flight of passage and navi adventure. I knew the navi adventure wasn't very well received but it was much worse than I thought it was gonna be. Without fast pass I was able to go on everest a few times with very short waits (10-30 minutes). We didn't book any dinner reservations but ate at the Yak and Yeti and had some primo ramen and sake
Friday we went to both universal studios parks and not a single wait was longer than 15 minutes. It was supposed to rain but sprinkled maybe twice?
Saturday we went to Hollywood studios and it still wasn't bad. We had fast passes for Tower of Terror and the Rock n Rolla coaster. We went on tower of terror 3 times throughout the day with a 15-20 minute wait, although we did end up waiting 2 hours for the slinky ride but that's only because the entire park seemed to be hanging out in the toy story land.
Sunday we did Epcot and had a fast pass for Soarin. tried to eat and drink something in each different themed area but the best was probably the brioche bun with chocolate ice cream and caramel drizzle put in a sandwich press in France. Epcot got super crowded around 9 PM so we ended up leaving without hitting up a couple of the areas.
Monday we had planned on just hanging out in Disney springs, but we know a couple people that work at Disney so we got into Magic Kingdom for free. We obviously didn't book fast passes and the waits were surprisingly very long for a Monday. We only waited for Thunder Mountain, went on a couple of the kid rides, ate some candied bacon and chicken skewers and then headed to Disney Springs after to Morimoto Asia for the a5 wagyu and peking duck. By far the best meal we had all trip even though all the meals were fantastic.
Even though not having the fast passes for Magic Kingdom on Monday made it nearly impossible to get on anything good we still got into the park for free and the fast pass kicked ass for everything we pre-planned. The only thing I would change is possibly taking a few more days to hang out in Disney Springs.
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Making a road trip down to Cleveland in March and I wish Cedar Point was open to hit up Steel Vengeance again :/
Week after Thanksgiving to about the week before Christmas is the prime time to go to the parks in Orlando, it's not even funny. Did you stay at Port Orleans French Quarter or Riverside?
French Quarter
One of our favorite trips in the past few years was to New Orleans, so it's exactly the style we were looking for. Those booze-filled beignets, great bar, and a room that was recently renovated the past few years and in the style of the french quarter (for half the cost of the dated room we stayed in at AK) was perfect. It was a boat ride down the river away from Disney Springs too which made the final night dinner really easy.
side note: At AK we reserved a king bed for 2 adults and when we got back to the hotel to check in the first night we arrived to a queen bed with a bunk bed next to it...
They tried to convince us it was actually an upgrade (maybe in price... but an upgrade for me and my s/o?) but everything got sorted out.
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Yeah, that is a nice quiet time of year to go... You still get to experience some of the Food & Wine, but all of the Halloween crowds are gone. Stinks that Star Wars probably will not be open by then... :(
I love the Animal Kingdom Lodge because of how its sort of situated in a remote area of the grounds and its super quiet there, especially at night, and I love that. I love sitting out by that fire pit and just zoning out.
Other times I have gone down to Disney I mostly stayed at Pop Century which is a cool value resort, especially if you get a preferred room as its closer to the main building and all the park shuttles.
I tried an All Star resort once, and I wanted to kill myself. It was so drab and dreary.... not sure if they renovated it since then, but I still have no interest.
I would like to stay at the French Quarter at some point or even Coronado Springs, but that is a convention center hotel and I am not sure I want to deal with the extra foot traffic especially if there is a convention going on.
Has anyone stayed at one of the Universal properties? I stayed at Cabana Bay a couple years back and I loved it! It's probably my favorite value priced resort in Orlando. When I go back down to FL, I'll most likely stay at Cabana Bay and then just drive over to Disney.... park at Disney Springs for free and then take shuttles to the parks. :)
Yeah it is a shame, but also at the same time I'm kinda secretly relieved because I can only imagine the crowd levels being horrendous upon opening.
We went from the 5th - 10th and once the holiday decorations go up and the Mickey Christmas thing at magic kingdom it got really busy. The food and wine weekend (which was the last few days we were there) was like it was when I went in June years ago.
A couple park employees told me it's the busiest time of year outside summer.
According to them, there is no 'dead' time, but the closest you'll get to it is early February.
Oh, oh well haha, I guess we'll just have to deal with the crowds then.
It wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't 90 degrees lol. But I knew it was a crapshoot on what kind of weather we'd get even in November
French Quarter is great. Sad to see your stay at AKL wasn't as great, I loved going there in the early 2000s. Can't wait for my Jiko reservations in a few weeks!
It'll be quiet-ish. Epcot will be a mess during F&W and Universal will be crowded on HHN days.
The Loews hotels are amazing, them and Universal knock it out of the park. The value of all their resorts is insane. Only issue is no Magically Express like service and no roomkey as park entry weirdness. Otherwise you get as much if not more than a Disney resort at half the price. Especially if you want Express and stay at Royal pacific.
Cedar Point is finally tearing down the Cedars Dorms.
https://www.cleveland.com/travel/20...-down-cedars-dorms-not-saying-whats-next.html
https://www.cleveland.com/travel/20...-down-cedars-dorms-not-saying-whats-next.html
Yeah those things were garbage and a prime location for a new hotel or attraction. I also wonder what they're going to do with the old Sandcastle location.
Hey thanks for the link. ;)
Really excited for the project, good time to be a theme park fan.
So if Potter coaster/T2 replacement is 2019, and the JP coaster is 2020, I wonder what that leaves for 2021. Maybe SLOP? Kidzone replacement (snort) could also be on the cards.
In other news Steel Vengeance won the user vote for USA Today's best new attraction. Well deserved!
http://bit.ly/2sAKCiw
http://bit.ly/2sAKCiw
I really do need to make it out to Cedar Point at some point in my life...
Tower of Terror at DHS still the GOAT
...now how the heck am I going to kill time until my Slinky fastpass at 7pm 🤔
...now how the heck am I going to kill time until my Slinky fastpass at 7pm 🤔
Well, that was a long day. Slinky is a decent coaster. Very pleasant and enjoyable, though not particularly impressive in any way. It was a bit faster than I thought it would be (thought this could have been enhanced by riding it at night), and the lights around the track really pop at night.
Starting to get unreasonably hyped for the Potter coaster. The layout is giving me big Mummy vibes with how varied it is, though Potter might have an edge by focusing almost solely on surprising coaster maneuvers. It's probably going to get slept on in a year with Galaxy's Edge, but I could see it being more exciting as a ride experience than anything Disney is opening this year.
Starting to get unreasonably hyped for the Potter coaster. The layout is giving me big Mummy vibes with how varied it is, though Potter might have an edge by focusing almost solely on surprising coaster maneuvers. It's probably going to get slept on in a year with Galaxy's Edge, but I could see it being more exciting as a ride experience than anything Disney is opening this year.
Some leaked details for Universal's Fantastic Worlds from Orlando Park Stop: https://orlandoparkstop.com/news/th...s-light-on-universal-orlandos-new-theme-park/
Couple highlights:
-Potter-level theming seems to be the status quo here. They specially mention theming the bathrooms!
-Hub and Spoke design
-Expansion plots for entire lands, rather than just add-on attractions for existing lands
2023 hype!
Couple highlights:
-Potter-level theming seems to be the status quo here. They specially mention theming the bathrooms!
-Hub and Spoke design
-Expansion plots for entire lands, rather than just add-on attractions for existing lands
2023 hype!
You guys actually think Universal will have a fully fledged 3rd theme park open in the next 3-4 years? I mean I know DAK took 3 years to build and open from concept, but wouldn't that mean that Universal would need to announce this new park soon, so they can get going on clearing land and start building all the areas? If 2023 holds up, I'll be very happy....
yeah, but Universal has a lot on their plate right now...
- New 2019 Harry Potter coaster, which they have yet to officially announce
- The new JP coaster, which they have yet to announce, but put up walls
- An entire new 3rd park, with several smaller themed lands inside of it...
- New 2019 Harry Potter coaster, which they have yet to officially announce
- The new JP coaster, which they have yet to announce, but put up walls
- An entire new 3rd park, with several smaller themed lands inside of it...
T2, new hotels, CityWalk additions, more attractions, etc.
Even then still 2022 is my bet.
Any rumors on what is going to be going into that old T2 building?
Also, any rumors on how Universal plans on getting everyone over from USO or IOA to FW? I had read they may have buses, like what Disney has to get people around, but then I heard a wild rumor they may also look into a gondola like system...
Originally there was word it might be a JJ Star Trek attraction; but that fizzled, the last rumor I heard was it was between a James Bond attraction and a Jason Bourne attraction and the Bourne one was what was rumored to be happening but I don't know if anything has changed since then.
I'm planning our next trip to Orlando around this coaster. Currently November 2020 penciled in.
Hopefully you'll be able to experience Galaxy's Edge without 8hr waits for the attractions... lol
Nah, the plan is just to hit up Universal at this point which we haven't done since before any of the Harry Potter stuff. We did Disney and Pandora in 2017 and it was a blast, but I'm good waiting a few more years to go back to Disney.
That's the mindset I am in... the last few times I went down to FL, I primarily did Universal with maybe a day trip to Disney just to hit up some stuff I like. I do think I am going to try and go down to FL next Dec because I haven't been to Disney or Universal during Christmas in about 10years (usually go during Halloween). Hopefully Star Wars will be open, and I can get in and check it out... Although the "Late Fall 2019" window has me thinking that it will open right at the end of Nov or right when I want to go and if that is the case, then I avoid that area of DHS like the plague.
T2 has been marked for replacement for a long time. First project I've been told was Universals pitch to Cameron for Avatar (just an attraction no land). Then it went through several ideas and it sounds like they settled on spy stunt show back when Universal was in talks for the domestic Bond distribution rights.